Just Another Herd Creature

dbubley came to work with me today to keep me company.  Once classes are over it becomes very quiet around here.  I said, "come up to my office level."  See, I'm in the basement, but my office is actual up about 4 steps.  They put in a lift for access.  She got in the lift, I closed the door and pushed the button.  Up she started to go and then she didn't - go that is.  It stopped about 1/2 way up. 

My first thought was we popped a fuse.  I went to the electrical room and my key wouldn't open it.  In the 2 days I've been gone, they re-keyed that room!  One of our teachers saw me trying to get in and asked me what was wrong.  I explained about the lift and he said "I've got a fireman in my class, I'll get him."  Next thing you know we have 5 fireman crawling all over the lift trying to find a way to let it down.  This is not a pneumatic lift, it's electrical/mechanical.  There didn't seem to be an easy way to do this.  Finally, they managed to get the door open.  It was only about 2 feet off the ground.  dbubley stood up, they carried her chair out of the lift and then, with a little wooden step thing, they helped her out of the lift and into her chair. 

More fun than I should be allowed to have on a Saturday afternoon at work, ya know?

I fell asleep last night around 10:30 pm.  I should have gotten up around midnight, taken my meds and put stonebender to bed.  Instead, dispite his calling me many, many times, I continued to sleep until 6:00 am!  Yep, poor guy just went to sleep around 7 am.  He thought about just staying up, but he knew he'd crash really bad at some point, plus it's not good for his butt to sit so many hours.  Now I just have to get him up at a reasonable time so we can get back to something resembling a "normal" schedule.  On weekdays he has to get up between 8 and 9 am when his attendant gets here.  Even if I didn't have to go to work, I have to be up by 8 am because his attendant is coming.  

I hate when I crash so bad like that - nothing gets me up.  I can even sleep through the phone ringing.  And the alarm clock - forget it. I know it's a combination of sleep deprivation and my blood sugar numbers - this happens mostly when they are high.  And they were.  And they are.  I just fixed a burger and ate it open face on sourdough bread with tomato and avocado.  That and a handful of pills = my breakfast.  I guess I'm up for the day.  It feels weird to be awake when stonebender is sleeping. 

To my partner's partner's partner: 
I have less than 30 minutes to wish someotherguy a very happy birthday.  Wishing you a great 30 minutes (ahem) and even more important, a continuation of happiness in the days, weeks and years to come! (I think I can insert another  "ahem" here but that would be tacky.  And like that's ever stopped me!)

A Fresh Perspective
I was purchasing some infant items today.  (Hey cassidyrose guess who they're for?)  At the check out the clerk remarked on the "cuteness of one of the items and then she looked at me and said, "Is this for your grandchild?"   I said no, it's for a friend's baby shower.   stonebender had an evil grin on his face.  

Of course, none of this is really out of place.  The math is simple.  If I'd had a child at 19, the soon to appear Baby Fly could be my grandchild.   I just feel like I've skipped something.  I've never had children, I've never taken on the identity of  "mother".   I'm use to people, in casual conversation asking if I have children.  But now there are people out there who I.D. me as "grandma".   I just dyed my hair 2 days ago.   I don't think I'm ready for this.  

One the Other Hand I Do Identify as Dog Mommy
One of the other items purchased today was a new basketball for Gilly.  She loves playing with them.  She punctures them as soon as possible and carries them around, ready for a "Keep Away" game with any willing human.  She was down at dbubley's house playing with her new ball. 

dbubleycalled  and said she thought the ball was stuck in Gilly's mouth.  "She looks like she wants a drink of water but she won't let go of the ball.", she said.  My first thought; Gilly's just teasing and doing whatever she can to keep dbubley  playing, I heard the concern in dbubley's voice.  "Send her home and I'll take a look."  

Gilly didn't need much "sending" once she was told to go home.  I heard her come in the dog door and (for her) slowly walk up the steps.  She came in the office and sure enough, the ball was in her mouth.  "Sit" I said.  She is incapable of holding something in her mouth and sitting.  She chose not to sit.  As soon as I took hold of the basket ball, she started to struggle.  Her eyes locked on mine, "fix it" they begged.    I could do no less.

I tried to push the ball down from her upper canines.  And then I tried pushing up on the ball from her lower canines.  Her mouth was open as much as possible.  Nothing would budge, the ball had "sealed" around her teeth.  I grabbed scissors from my desk drawer and tried to puncture it.  They weren't sharper enough.  I rushed downstairs to grab my utility knife.  This time it was sharp enough and the second I pushed the tip in, air escaped and so did Gilly's teeth.  

She immediately laid on the floor, panting a little more than usual, with her tongue hanging out.  I went to her water bowl and added some fresh water.  Gilly was right on my heels and proceeded to do the dog equivalent of "chugging".  Lap lap, slurp slurp, lap lap, water flowing freely out of the side of mouth, lap lap, slurp slurp, REPEAT until satiated and the floor is sufficiently wet to be a safety hazard.

Doggy emergency is over, Gilly is fine, all her doggie parents are fine. She's ready to play with the ball again.

In case you're wondering, Gilly is fixed and will not be making me a doggie grandma. 

Smokey outside.  Smell of gunpowder.  Fireworks all around us.  I sat on my front porch and watched them for an hour.  Often I had to tip my head backwards to see them as they soared overhead.    There were colorful ones, loud ones, white zippy ones, sizzling ones.   Some set off car alarms.  Casing fell on our street and sidewalk.

We reassured Gilly and after about 30 minutes of all this noise she mostly ignored them, except for the very loud ones.  Sticking close to us, insisting at one point to get under my desk.  There's not a lot of room there even without my legs, but it's where she wanted to be.  

I wonder how many of these backyard pyrotechnicians are putting on the show for children; how many are doing it only for themselves.  Sitting on my front porch, I do believe they are putting it on just for me.   

Happy Explosions to All and to All a Good Night!

The most memorable line from "The Devil Wears Prada", which we went to see this afternoon.

 stonebender & dbubley liked it well enough,   clever_doberman was more lukewarm about it and I believe that is 106 minutes I will never get back.   I didn't care about one person in the film.  Meryl Streep was a bitch of a boss and she did an excellent job of it, but even that performance didn't save the movie for me.  If you're into fashion, there's a lot of eye candy.

Copped from serenejournal

Hugo winers I've read are in bold.  I can see the 70's and 80's (esp. the 80's were my con going years.